Displaying items by tag: GCW336

Oman: Raysut Cement’s revenue fell by 22% year-on-year to US$187m in 2017 from US$240m in 2016. Its profit after tax fell by 66.6% to US$18m from US$53.8m. In November 2017 the cement producer blamed its falling profit on lower sales due to competition locally and in export markets, disruption to its export market in Yemen resulting from the on-going civil war and increased energy prices.

Paraguay: The association of cement distributors in Vallemi has expressed its concern over low production levels at Industria Nacional del Cemento’s (INC) plant. The association says that the cement plant has been unable to guarantee clinker production or dispatches of cement, according to the ABC newspaper. Cement shortages are expected unless normal production is resumed.

The kiln at INC’s plant in Vallemi as reportedly stopped repeatedly since September 2017. It stopped operating on 27 December 2017 and has been waiting for engineers from ABB to carry out repairs. Parts were due to arrive in mid-January 2018. INC has denied reports that cement production and supply have been affected.

UAE: India’s Shree Cement has purchased Union Cement Company (UCC) based in the UAE for US$305m. Its board approved the acquisition of at least a 92.8% share in the company, according to the Press Trust of India. The transaction is expected to be completed by September 2018. Following the deal Shree Cement’s cement production capacity will rise to 33Mt/yr from 29.3Mt/yr. The acquisition is the company’s first outside of India.

UCC was established in 1972. It operates a cement plant Ras Al- Khaimah with a clinker production capacity of 3.3Mt/yr and a cement production capacity of 4Mt/yr.

Philippines: SM Group heir Henry Sy Jr has launched Big Boss Cement with a group of investors. The new cement producer plans to start selling cement in March 2018, according to the Manila Bulletin newspaper. Its first product will be called ‘Big Boss Cement Type 1P.’

It has nearly completed a cement grinding plant that will have a production capacity of 1.5 million bags/yr at Porac in Pampanga. The company hopes to capture 3% of the estimated market demand for cement of 25Mt/yr. Big Boss Cement operates a laboratory in Metropolitan Manila.

Canada: Lafarge Canada, University of Calgary, Queen’s University, and Pembina Institute have started a study on the environmental benefits of introducing lower carbon fuels at the Exshaw Cement Plant in Alberta. Eight lower carbon fuels will be researched, including construction renovation and demolition waste, non-recyclable plastic, carpets and textiles, shingles, treated wood products, wood products, rubber and tyre-derived fuels. These sources of fuel have been successfully used at other LafargeHolcim cement plants in Canada.

“Lab simulations, environmental studies, economics and logistics reviews are already underway. All research will be finalised by December 2019 with regular updates provided to the neighbouring communities via a Public Advisory Committee,” said Jim Bachmann, the plant manager of Exshaw .

Additional research by the partners will measure the environmental components associated with the sourcing, processing and full-scale commercial operation of each lower carbon fuel compared to fossil fuels. The project will also measure the benefits of diverting materials from landfills and determine optimal points in the cement manufacturing process to inject each fuel.

In addition to Lafarge’s support, research funding is being provided by Alberta Innovates, Ontario Centres of Excellence, Emissions Reduction Alberta and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. It includes research by Millennium EMS Solutions Ltd., Geocycle, and WSP Global Inc.

As part of its 2030 Sustainability Plan, LafargeHolcim aims to replace 30 - 50% of fossil fuel use at its Canadian cement plants with lower carbon fuels by 2020.

Pakistan: Shahbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjb, has approved summary legislation banning the installation of new cement plants in the province on environmental grounds. The summary will be passed to standing committees on legislation for deliberation and recommendations, according to the Nation newspaper. The region has 12 cement plants, of which eight are located in the Salt Range of hills, where local residents have become increasingly intolerant of new industrial plants due to damage to underground water tables and increased air pollution.

The summary will also examine expansion plans by existing cement plants in the province and it has hired a consultancy, Artelia, to study the situation. The Supreme Court of Pakistan also being looking at the issue separately. However, the local cement industry is in an expansion mode as it copes with resident and public sector construction markets and large-scale infrastructure projects driven by the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor initiative.

Switzerland: The IndustriALL Global Union and Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) have expressed their dismay at LafargeHolcim’s failure to sign a global framework agreement intended to support industrial relations. The company signed a memorandum of understanding committing to sign the agreement in July 2017. However, the unions’ say that LafargeHolcim backed out of the deal in late December 2017, saying that its current internal arrangements were sufficient.

The unions, together with other international and national partners, have called on LafargeHolcim to sign the agreement, stop poor treatment of sub-contracted and third party workers by the company and to prioritise the health and safety of all of its workers.

“This recent decision to break the agreement on building a social dialogue further damages the credibility of the company. We strongly believe that the shareholders, board of directors and all decision makers in LafargeHolcim must think carefully what the future will hold for LafargeHolcim if this destructive approach prevails,” said Valter Sanches, the General Secretary of IndustriALL.

Puerto Rico: Cemex Puerto Rico plans to stop clinker production at its Ponce cement plant. The site will move to grinding cement in January 2018, according to Sin Comillas. The cement producer has been unable to rule out job losses.

The changes come in response to poor cement sales that the company says are the worst in the territory since the 1950s. Cement sales have been falling since 2009 and Hurricanes Irma and Maria punished the market in the autumn with big declines in September and October 2017. At present Cemex Puerto Rico says that the local market only needs around a third of the country’s capacity. However, the Ponce plant has a production capacity of 1.2Mt/yr. The company has also cited high electricity costs as part of its decision.

Costa Rica/Latin America: LafargeHolcim has opened the 1000th store in its Disensa retail network in Latin America. The milestone store opened in Costa Rica in late December 2017. Since expanding its Disensa network beyond Ecuador in April 2017, the company has added around 500 Disensa-branded stores in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico and Nicaragua. LafargeHolcim plans to continue its network expansion in Latin America by opening its first store in Brazil in early 2018.

“The roll-out of the group’s retail strategy in emerging markets such as Latin America is enabling us to get even closer to consumers,” said Oliver Osswald, Head Region Latin America at LafargeHolcim.

The Disensa network is intended to offer self-builders and smaller contractors access to LafargeHolcim’s own building solutions as well as other construction materials and services, including microcredit and technical help. The concept was developed in Ecuador as a franchise scheme. The group also launched its Binastore brand of retail stores in the Middle East and Africa in mid-2017, opening stores in Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, Ivory Coast, South Africa and Zambia.